Brake for overhead electrically-driven locomotives.



No. 767,865. PATENTED AUG. 16, 19O4t A. E. BROWN. BRAKE FOROVERHEAD ELEGTRIOALLY DRIVEN LOCOMOTIVES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 20. 1904'. H0 MODEL. I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

.7' a K a 0 WITNESSES: IN ENTO 4 JhWMA @ATT PATENTED AUG. 16, 1904.

A. E. BROWN. BRAKE FOR OVERHEAD ELEOTRIOALLY DRIVEN LOCOMOTIVES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 20. 1904.

2 sums-Samara.

N0 MQDEL.

4; ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES Patented August 16, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER EPHRAIM BROWN, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO TI-IE BROWN 'HOISTING MACHINERY COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, AN

INCORPORATED COMPANY.

BRAKE FOR OVERHEAD ELECTRlCALLY-DRIVEN LOCOMOTIVES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 767,665, dated August 16, 1904.

Application filed April 20, 1904- To (all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER EPHRAIM BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, Ohio, have invented a certain 5 new and useful Improvement in Brakes for Overhead Electrically-Driven Locomotives; as to which I hereby declare the following is a full, clear, and exact description, due reference being had and intended to the several 1 drawings accompanying this specification and which I mean shall be considered as a part of the same.

My invention is concerned more particularly with the class of locomotives above re- 1 ferred to which are suspended from an I-beam byaseries of two or more sets or pairs ofwheels, the opposite members of which pairs are severally mounted and travel upon opposite flanges of such I-beam and which, furthermore, are respectively driven by amotor specially provided for driving the same.

The main purpose and object of my invention is to provide a braking apparatus for locomotives of the above class that can be operated from the cage or platform beneath and carried by the same with equal efficiency when traveling upon either a straight or curved track and which will, moreover, permit the brakes to be worked on all the wheels 3 at once and to the same degree.

I accomplish the above purpose and object by the mechanical arrangement I shall now proceed to describe, having reference to said drawings, wherein in each case similar parts are described by similar letters.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of adouble-truck type of locomotive to which my said braking device is applied and the upper portion of its pendent cage or platform.

4 Fig. 2 is a downward plan view of the type of locomotive shown in Fig. 1 with suitable motors, gearing, and brake-wheels for the same. Fig. 3 is a front view of either pair of driving-wheels that make up the trucks in Fig. 2 and their accompanying driving apparatus. Fig. 4 is a side view of my braking mechanism with the motor removed when applied to the form of track-wheel arrangev Serial No. 203,997. (No model.)

ments shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view through the line X Y of Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrow, and Fig. 6 is an oblique sectional view toward the gear and pinion wheels through the line it 7 in Fig. 5.

A is a suspended I-beam whose flanges a a constitute an overhead track for any desired distance upon which the locomotive is to travel and be operated.

B B and C C are the supporting or driving wheels, constituting together two fourwheel trucks upon and by means of which the travel is made.

D D and E E are truck-motors whose shafts are prolonged to serve as the shafts of pinions (Z, (.Z, c, and c, that respectively mesh with the gear-wheels G G and H H, located on opposite sides of the same.

K is acasting that carries said gear-wheels, the driving-wheels B B C C, the truckmotors D D E E, centrally located with respect to the same, and the several other operative parts and adjuncts of the brake device proper.

The casting K extends laterally from and beneath the flanges a and a of the track ,or I-beam A to a sufficient degree to receive and permit said truck-motors to be mounted in their proper place upon the same. The casting K projects upwardly on each side of said -beam in protuberant portions or sections, (indicated in the drawings Figs. 3, 5, 6 by p 1).) These sections p p of the casting K together branch around and under the flanges a a of the track-rail or I-beam A and respectively project upwardly between the gear-wheels G G and H H. They have a thickness as respects the width or thickness of the wheels B B C C that slightly exceeds the width or thickness of the latter and of course accommodate themselves to the oblique alinement of the tracks to which they severally relate.

At the outer side of the protuberant parts p p of the casting K are plates L L, which plates are fastened together by bolts that pass through the same and through the separatingblocks e 0, located centrally upon their inner faces. The plates thus secured together are in this manner made to span, respectively, the protuberant parts 1) 7) and are secured thereto accordingly near their lower edges by a bolt or pin 7), .that passes at aloose [it through holes in the plates provided for the purpose and through the part 7) in each case. is itself secured in place by the drop-pin 7), that penetrates both the part 22 and the bolt Z).

Holes are provided at each end of the platesL, as indicated, of suitable dimensions to receive the shafts or spindles g of the driving-wheels B B C C and permit the same to rotate therein. Said Wheels are attached accordinglyin pairs to the extremities of the equalizing frame or body made up of the plates LL, connected together and to the casting K in the manner just described by their shafts or axles 7, which shafts or axles are prolonged on the outer side of the wheels to a proper distanceto serve as shafts for the several gear-wheels G G H H. Said gear-wheels are mounted upon the projecting ends of the shafts g and in such position are keyed or otherwise secured against rotary or other movement thereon.

Firmly mounted upon the shafts of the m0- tors D D E E between the motors and their pinionsd (Z a e are brake-wheels W W, each provided with brake bands or loops WV W, whose ends meet below their wheels and are there pivotally connected to the shorter arm of levers M M. Said levers M M are fulcrumed to the casting K at a suitable point below and on the inner side of the brakewheels W. Their longer arms project inwardly toward a point direct-1y below the center of the track or I-beam A, where they are connected one with the other by a slotted T or cross-head. or in other manner that allows them to be oscillated vertically. At the junction-point of said levers immediately below the center of the I-beam A is hung a rod or plunger-like part I by means of a pin (shown at Z in the drawings) that passes through eyes in said cross-head and joins the two levers M and the upper end of said plunger-rod P. Said plunger-rod P when thus hung is of suflicient length to extend downwardly through and below the casting K. In order to accommodate and guide the plunger-rod I in the vertical oscillations to which it is to be subjected, the casting K is prolonged downwardly in a tube-like projection, (designated by l.) Said projection in the special form for using my invention illustrated by the drawings is threaded at its lower end, so as to receive a sleeve or collar n, provided with a flange 11. Above the sleeve 11/ is located a spiral spring 8, and from and upon this spring depends an operating-cage O, in which are contained and carried the necessary hoisting-motors and the controllers and rheostats for both the hoisting and the truck motors. As will be plain on referring to the draw1ngs, the operating-cage O, by means of the inwardly-flanged and upwardly-projecting part 0, that rests directly Said bolt 7).

upon the spiral springs andindirectly upon the sleeve or collar 12, is swivelly connected with and supported by the casting K,and either the forward or rear truck, to which said cage is appendant, is accordingly free to move horizontallywith respect to thesame. Thespring s at the same time permits a certain degree of vertical oscillation between the cage 0 and the castingK audits appurtenances, and the effect on the machinery of jars and shocks due to unevenness or irregularities in the track is thereby largely reduced.

On opposite sides of the cylindrical part 0 are located a pair of dependent lugs 9 r,through which bolts 9" securely unite said parts with the cage 0. At their lower ends are upright slots, whereby and by means of corresponding slots in ears t 2., projecting therefrom, the halves of a divided collar T, that together oncircle the sleeve n around its rim a, are connected to said lugs 1' 9' at a sliding fit. Depending from said collar T are two outwardlyprojecting lugs 10 a, to which are pivotally connected at their lower ends one arm of an angle o. Such arm is of a length equal to the distance between its said point of connection with the lugs u a and a point beneath the center of the I-beam A. Each pair of angles 1; o are connected by cross-pieces w to between their angles and by similar cross-pieces between their lower arms, the uppermost crosspiece 10 being so located that when the pair of angles just described are drawn forward on their pivot through the lugs 20 a such crosspie ces will be brought into bearing below and against the plunger-rod P. The lower crosspiece of each of said pairs of angles is utilized as a point of attachment of a rope or other actuating medium of the same. In Fig. 4 a rope for this operating purpose is indicated.

I wish it to be understood that in showing and describingaspecial form of overhead locomotive I by no means intend to limit my brake invention accordingly. The detailed description I have given is intended only as illustrating one specific form of mechanism to which that invention may be usefully applied and not as pointing out essential conditions for its use. It will be observed that the braking apparatus I showis equally serviceable in overhead locomotives carrying an operator and an operating house or cage whether the lat ter is elastically connected or hung from the locomotive proper, as I have shown, or whether such connection is rigid so far as vertical movement is concerned, and in this particular my device, as compared with others of the kind, is exceptional, the advantage of elastically hanging the cage, and thereby relieving the machinery from jar, being gained by its use. This characterization is founded, of course, on the fact that in the method of construction employed the brakes are applied by upward pressure against the levers M through the pivotal or swiveling point of the brake-levers M and brake-actuating parts below are by contact only and separable,

A further and chief merit of the invention is the ability it furnishes the operator to apply brakes simultaneously and with equal force upon each driving-wheel of the system, and this is accomplished, unlike other form of brake, apparatus, whether the trucks are on a curve or are on a straight track. This advantage is of course due to the fact that the pendent operating-house is pivoted and that the plunger-rod P, actuating the brakelevers M, is centrally located in line with and beneath such pivot-point and is free to turn upon the cross-piece or bearing w. Any variation, therefore, from the normal relation of cage and truck, whether horizontally, as in rounding a curve, or vertically, as when track irregularities are encountered, will notaffect the plunger-rod P or brake a forward truck, for instance, to a different degree than a rear.

Havingthus described my said invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with an overhead truck,

or trucks provided witha downwardly-extending hollow part or member, centrally located with respect thereto, of suitable braking apparatus mounted on said truck, or trucks, having brake-actuating levers that reach inwardly above said part, or member, and are there pivotally connected with a rod or plunger-like piece that hangs freely with in and through said part or member, an operating house or cage swivelly suspended from said part or member, and suitable means for actuating said rod or plunger-like piece vertically, substantially as shown and described.

*2. In combination with an overhead electrically-driven truck, or trucks, provided with a downwardly-extending hollow part, or member, centrally located with respect thereto, of suitable braking apparatus, mounted on said truck, or trucks, having brake-actuating levers that reach inwardly above said part, or member, and are there pivotally connected with a rod, or plunger-like piece that hangs freely within and through said part, or member, an operating house, or cage, swivelly suspended from said part or member, and suitable means for actuating said rod, or plunger-like piece, vertically, substantially as shown and described.

3. In combination with an overhead electrically-driven truck, or trucks, provided with a downwardly-extendinghollow part or member, centrally located with respect thereto, of

suitable braking apparatus, mounted on said truck, or trucks, having brake-actuating levers that reach inwardly above said part, or member, and are there pivotally connected with a rod or'plunger-like piece that hangs freely within and through said part, or mem her, an operating house or cage elastically suspended from said part or member in a manner to permit said cage or house to rotate or swivel about or around said part or memher, and suitable means of oscillating said rod or plunger-like piece, in order to thereby actuate said brake-actuating levers and brake apparatus, substantially as shown and described.

Cleveland, Ohio, March 8, 1904.

ALEXANDER EPHRAIM BROWN. In presence of HOWARD A. (JoUsE, GEORGE (J. WING. 

